February 2011

What’s happenin’, hot stuff? Buffalo chicken meatballs–that’s what! All the spicy flavor of Buffalo chicken rolled into tender meatballs, what’s not to like? So easy and especially tasty served on a soft wheat roll with carrot and celery sticks on the side…and blue cheese dip, of course!

Let the meatballs stand just a few minutes before rolling ’em into the Buffalo sauce. I liked them so much I made them twice this week–the first time just on a dish, the second time as a sandwich. I really love the sandwich option and hope you will, too!

And if you like blue cheese, make sure you get some of the dip onto your sandwich. Mm-mmm-mmmm!

Have you seen the cover of Bon Appétit this month? “Best-ever brownies,” they proclaim–“Warning: you will eat the entire tray.” Hmm. And they’re made with browned butter!

These are easily the most intensely chocolate brownies I’ve ever baked or eaten. Using Valrhona doesn’t hurt, of course. I blame Steph. Not only had I seen that serious food porn last week, but then my friend had to let me know she had made them and indeed found them to be “the best ever.” Game on.

I skipped the walnuts. And though I wanted to follow the recipe precisely, I hate lining a pan with foil. I tried it twice and ripped the foil trying to butter it, so I just did it au natural, HA HA! I am sure those of you with cooking spray handy are laughing at me…and cranking out fancier brownies, too. More power to you!

Here’s the recipe, brought to you courtesy of Bon Appétit and chocolate maven, Alice Medrich.

Add dry ingredients to the browned butter.

Add eggs, one at a time.

Batter this good shouldn't be wasted, so be sure to lick your spatula!

Do you know what today is? It’s our blogiversary! I can’t believe it’s been a year since April Katt and I stepped into culinary cyberspace as Katty’s Kitchen. It’s been so much fun trying new recipes, sharing old favorites and getting to know some of you along the way.

I didn’t want “our day” to go by without posting something new and special. If you’ve been following along, you may know Ghirardelli’s brownie recipe is my all-time fave. I’ve come up with a few riffs on it over time, but this week, I wondered what lavender brownies might be like. Turns out, dessert maven Alice Medrich beat me to the concept several years ago.

Of course, part of what I’ve learned over the past year is there’s always a way to make something your own. Take your favorite brownie recipe. To the sugar, add 1 tablespoon and one teaspoon (or four teaspoons if that seems easier) of dried lavender buds.

I’m happy as a clam to report that’s actual sunlight you see streaming into the processor bowl! Buzz ’em up in your mini food processor like so.

The fragrance is AMAZING!

I’d love for you to try the Ghirardelli recipe (no raspberries and no white chocolate chips this time), but whatever brownie recipe rocks your world, lavender it up!

So, thanks for coming along for the ride with us. We have lots more to bake, cook and otherwise dream up in the kitchen, so please stay tuned…hopefully for many more anniversaries to come!

>>^..^<<

P.S. Special thanks to my cameraman for helping me pull this off while I’m traveling!

How about a different twist on tapenade? I originally wanted to try to recreate a sun-dried tomato dip we had with lunch recently. Along the way, I found a recipe from Bon Appétit that I used to adapt this recipe. It goes so beautifully on no-knead bread.

You may already have figured out the goodness and simplicity of this recipe when it ran in the New York Times five years ago, but it was new to me. Hey, better late than never!

Back to the tapenade…two thumbs up so far besides my own. Don’t forget to let it come up to room temperature when you serve it. Boy, oh boy, this is a very tasty snack!